National and European identities: notions of reconcilability and inclusiveness in a case study of German trainee teachers

Abstract

The link between formal education and national identities is widely acknowledged. Empirical research on national and supranational identities of teachers, however, is still relatively rare. Whilst a number of studies consider the special population of teachers, these contributions do not consistently focus on national and supranational identities. Based on a case study of 72 trainee teachers from Baden‐Württemberg (Germany), the present paper looks at the reconcilability of national and European identities and explores notions of the European Union in terms of cultural and geographical inclusiveness. Findings on the case study level are considered in their own right, but also compared to findings on the regional, national and European level, using relevant Eurobarometer survey data. The article shows that high levels of attachment to nation and high levels of attachment to Europe do not have to be mutually exclusive. It also demonstrates that, for most trainee teachers, the European Union constitutes a culturally and geographically inclusive institution that is supposed to stand for cultural diversity, peace, freedom and respect of human rights. Through comparisons that go beyond the case study level, the paper recognises the importance of regional and national contexts. Nonetheless, it argues that some of its findings are likely to be relevant for studies of national and European identities across different European societies.

Keywords:

• Case study data
• Eurobarometer data
• European identities
• European Union
• Germany
• Inclusiveness
• National identities
• Nested identities
• Teachers

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National and European identities: notions of reconcilability and inclusiveness in a case study of German trainee teachers

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to the trainee teachers who participated in my research project. I would also like to thank the anonymous referees, Dr Lynne Pettinger, Dr Yasemin Soysal, Dr Muriel Egerton and Robin West, for their comments on earlier drafts of the article.

Notes

1. In this paragraph the term ‘identities’ stands for ‘national and European identities’.

2. I used Eurobarometers 59.1 and 60.1 for my secondary analyses.

3. In all secondary analyses of Eurobarometer data, I only included those respondents who had indicated that they were 20 years of age or older when they stopped full‐time education as well as those who had indicated that they were still studying.

4. (Eurobarometer 60.1): ‘People may feel different degrees of attachment to their country/to Europe. Please tell me how attached you feel to your country/to Europe?’ [Very attached; fairly attached; not very attached; not at all attached; don't know]. The original categories ‘very attached’ and ‘fairly attached’ were recoded into a new category with the label ‘strong attachment to Germany/to Europe’ and, accordingly the categories ‘not very attached’ and ‘not at all attached’ constitute a new category with the label ‘weak attachment to Germany/to Europe’. All percentages that are presented in the present paper correspond to ‘valid percentages’ which means that missing values (e.g. not answered) were excluded in all my data analyses.

5. Strictly speaking, some of the respondents included in the respective Eurobarometer survey could have been teachers themselves, which would undermine this interpretation. However, the likelihood of finding a significant proportion of teachers amongst young (less than 30 years of age) Eurobarometer respondents appears to be rather negligible.

6. (Eurobarometer 59.1): ‘In the future do you see yourself as German only, German and European, European and German, or European only?’ [German only; German and European; European and German; European only; don't know].

7. (Eurobarometer 59.1): ‘What does the European Union mean to you personally?’ Multiple answers possible! [Peace; economic prosperity; social protection; freedom to travel, study and work anywhere in the European Union; cultural diversity; stronger say in the world; Euro; unemployment; bureaucracy; waste of money; loss of our own cultural identity; more crime; not enough control at external frontiers; (other; don't know)].

8. On a side note, the relatively low proportions for ‘social protection’ on all levels of analysis might indicate that across Europe social welfare is still pretty much perceived as the domain of individual nation states.